Nobody (2021 film)

Nobody (2021 film)
Nobody is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Ilya Naishuller and written by Derek Kolstad. The film, which stars Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Aleksey Serebryakov, RZA, and Christopher Lloyd, follows a mild-mannered family man who returns to his former life of an assassin as he and his family became the target of a vengeful crime lord. Odenkirk and David Leitch are among the film's producers.
Universal Pictures released Nobody theatrically in the United States on March 26, 2021, and in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2021. The film grossed $57 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences and Odenkirk's performance. A sequel is in development.
Plot
Hutch Mansell leads an ordinary life with an unremarkable office job and also has a wife Becca and two children named Blake and Abby. One night, some thieves break into his house with a gun. Hutch prepares to fight, but relents and lets them leave. Blake had one of the thieves in his grip and Hutch had the perfect opportunity to attack, but he doesn't attack and asks Blake to leave the thief. Everyone sees Hutch as a failure, but Hutch reveals to his brother Harry that he held back because the burglar's gun was unloaded.
Hutch and Harry speak over the radio, hidden in Hutch's office. Hutch's brother-in-law Charlie offers Hutch a gun for his own protection, which Hutch refuses. Hutch has given an offer to his father-in-law Eddie to buy out his business, but he considers as not a great offer. The following evening, Abby reveals that her bracelet is missing and Hutch sets out to find it. Hutch suspects the thieves from the previous night as he recognized the tattoo on one of the thieves and found the parlor where they got it. After tracking down the thieves, Hutch demands to return the bracelet, but he realizes they don't have it and leaves. While on a bus heading home, a group of thugs get on a bus and Hutch brutally beats them after they harass a young woman.
Hutch returns home and is bandaged by Becca, who knows Hutch's past. Teddy, who is one of the thugs beaten on the bus, is the brother of Yulian Kuznetsov, a Russian crime lord safeguarding the mob's Obshchak money (a common treasury used to settle disputes). After deducing Hutch's location using his metrocard, which he dropped on the bus, Yulian sends a crew to Hutch's home and also blackmails a Pentagon official to discover Hutch's past and instructs his staff to bring Hutch alive. Harry calls Hutch ahead and warns him that the men he attacked are connected to Yulian. He asks Hutch to check with The Barber, Hutch's former government handler.
Hutch hides his family and kills the attackers, where he reveals that he is a former "auditor" - an assassin employed by intelligence agencies. While employed as an auditor, Hutch set a target free who eventually reformed and lived happily with a new family. Wanting a similar life, Hutch retired from the auditor life. Hutch sends his family to safety, retrieving his hidden gold and cash and finding the bracelet under the couch. He burns his house down to dispose of the dead assassins and steals his neighbor's Dodge Challenger. The two assassins come to the retirement home of his father David, where they are swiftly taken out. Hutch uses the gold to buy his father-in-law's metal fabrication factory, where he burns Yulian's Obshchak money and then proceeds to booby-trap the entire factory.
Hutch then visits Yulian and offers to end the fighting. Hutch tells that Yulian attacked his family and he burned down the Obshchak. Yulian also wants out as he cannot finance the entire Obshchak. Hutch suggests a retirement in one of the lesser-known Caribbean Islands, away from the Russian mafia and Hutch will get his own life back, but Yulian and his men pursue him to the factory and surround him. Suddenly, Harry and David provide him with suppressing fire and the Russians are drawn into the factory. Using a variety of weapons and deadly traps that he had prepared, Hutch kills them all. Although all three survive the shootout, Hutch is arrested but released with no charges filed due to a mysterious phone call. Three months later while buying a new house with his wife, Hutch receives a call suggesting that his services are still required.
Cast
Bob Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell / “Nobody”, a former government assassin for “those three letter agencies”
Aleksei Serebryakov as Yulian Kuznetsov, a Russian mafia boss guarding obshchak, who is targeting Hutch and his family
Connie Nielsen as Becca Mansell, Hutch's successful wife
Christopher Lloyd as David Mansell, Hutch's father and a retired FBI agent
Michael Ironside as Eddie Williams, Hutch's father-in-law and boss
Colin Salmon as The Barber, Hutch's former government handler
RZA as Harry Mansell, Hutch's brother
Billy MacLellan as Charlie Williams, Eddie's son and Hutch's brother-in-law
Gage Munroe as Blake Mansell, Hutch's teenage son
Paisley Cadorath as Abby Mansell, Hutch's daughter
Aleksandr Pal as Teddy Kuznetsov, Yulian's younger brother
Araya Mengesha as Pavel, Yulian's half-Russian half-Ethiopian bodyguard
In addition Daniel Bernhardt and Alain Moussi play two of the Russian goons on the bus. J. P. Manoux appears as a Pentagon employee whom Yulian blackmails.
Production
In January 2018, it was announced Bob Odenkirk was set to star in the film, with Ilya Naishuller directing from a screenplay by Derek Kolstad. Odenkirk also served as a producer, alongside David Leitch. Kolstad executive produced, along with Marc S. Fischer, Annie Marter and Tobey Maguire. STX Entertainment was set to distribute the film. In April 2019, Universal Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film from STX. In October 2019, Connie Nielsen and Christopher Lloyd also joined the cast.
Principal photography began in Los Angeles in September 2019. Production moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in October 2019. Filming lasted 34 days.
Release
Theatrical
Nobody was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on August 14, 2020, by Universal Pictures. After being repeatedly rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was ultimately released in theaters on March 26, 2021. The film was released in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2021.
Home media
The film was released digitally via premium video-on-demand on April 15, 2021, on digital on June 8, 2021, and on DVD and Blu-Ray on June 22, 2021. The film became available on HBO Max on January 21, 2022, and as part of the streaming deal for Universal Pictures, the film permanently left the library on March 31, 2023.
Reception
Box office
Nobody grossed $27.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $29.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $57.5 million, against a production budget of $16 million.
A week prior to its United States release, Variety estimated the film would gross around $5 million in its opening weekend, compared to its expectation that it would open to around $15 million in a pre-COVID marketplace. The film made $2.5 million on its first day, and went on to debut to $6.7 million, topping the box office. 62% of the audience was male, with 56% being under the age of 35. The film fell 56% to $3 million in its second weekend, finishing third.
Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 84% of 282 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Nobody doesn't break any new ground for the genre, but this viscerally violent thriller smashes, shatters, and destroys plenty of other things – all while proving Bob Odenkirk has what it takes to be an action star." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 83% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend it.
The Hollywood Reporters John DeFore praised the film's "enjoyably absurd violence," and wrote, "Taking itself much less seriously than the Taken series and its predecessors, it's a wish-fulfillment romp just as ludicrous as any of them but more fun than most." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing, "Most impressive of all is Odenkirk, who looks and sounds nothing like an action star until it's time for Hutch to become an action star, and we totally believe this physically unimpressive, normally mild-mannered guy as a simmering cauldron of rage who could take that teapot over there and kill ya with it."
Future
Sequel
In March 2021, Connie Nielsen expressed interest in reprising her role for a sequel. The actress stated that she would like to learn more about Hutch and Becca's backstory, while stating that discussions regarding how the two characters met took place on the set of the first movie. In June of the same year, it was announced that Kolstad was in the process of writing a sequel, although it had yet to be green-lit by the studio. In March 2022, 87North Productions announced on social media that the studio was looking forward to working on Nobody 2, though no official production date was announced at that time. By August of the same year, Leitch confirmed that work on the script was ongoing, while stating that the studio had committed to releasing a sequel.
In December 2022, McCormick announced that a sequel was officially happening, with principal photography scheduled for 2023.
Potential crossover
In March 2021, Kolstad was asked about the potential for a crossover between the John Wick franchise and Nobody. As the films are distributed by different companies (Lionsgate and Universal, respectively), Kolstad indicated this was unlikely and stated the franchises were "very different"; at most, he would like to see it done in a small and subtle Easter egg-reference manner. Later that month, director Ilya Naishuller was asked about a potential crossover and, pointing out that two different studios are involved, said "That's all I'll say. I mean, everything's possible. Stranger things have definitely happened, but... yeah.”
In June of 2021, Kolstad stated that if there were any crossover, he would prefer it in a minimalist fashion, and opined that he would prefer John Wick and Hutch Mansell be on the same side should the characters share more screen time.
References
External links
2021 films
2021 action thriller films
American action thriller films
American black comedy films
Films about families
Films about the Russian Mafia
Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films scored by David Buckley
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films shot in Winnipeg
Films with screenplays by Derek Kolstad
Universal Pictures films
Films directed by Ilya Naishuller
2020s English-language films
2020s American films